The present invention is concerned with a machine, and the mechanism thereof, for applying adhering tape, such as pressure sensitive tape, to cartons having their end and side flaps on the tops and bottoms thereof folded inward, so as to anchor those folded flaps securely, such as is taught in the copending U.S. patent application of Saul Warshaw, Winton Loveland, and Horst J. Hanemann, Ser. No. 645,718, filed Dec. 31, 1975, the disclosure of which is embodied herein by reference.
As is therein indicated it is an old practice in the concerned art to provide such machines which receive from an operator's hands or equipment he controls cartons with their top and bottom flaps folded over contained contents, and to apply to each carton pressure sensitive tape for securely anchoring in closed positions the folded carton flaps. These machines are equipped with tape applying assembly units each of which frequently has two tape applicator rollers that are pivotally mounted for swing. In some such machines this tape applying unit has a single first roller projecting into a path of transport of each carton through the machine and with this roller supporting an end of the tape with its adhesively coated face opposed to the leading end wall of the on-coming carton for adherence anchorage thereto. Then, as the carton advances, it swings this first applicator roller forward to lower it out of the way of this oncoming carton while wiping the adhesive tape to anchorage of carton surfaces, i.e., first a portion of the carton leading end wall surface, then along the longitudinal top (or bottom as the case may be) to lap the opposed edges of the infolded side flaps and finally to leave a trailing end section to lap up (or down as the case may be) against the trailing carton end wall by the second, or one of the remaining pair of applicator rollers when there are three thereof. This second roller constitutes with its carrying arm means a sub-assembly which is pivoted to supporting frame structure of the mechanism and the carrying arm means of this roller which follows the first roller is linked by a coupling means to the carrying arm means of this first roller, so that as the latter is depressed by advance of the carton for wiping of the tape thereby longitudinally along the carton, the swing of the first roller's carrying arm means forward swings back the carrying arm means of the second roller to cause the latter to repeat the wipe against the tape laid down longitudinally until the carton back wall is reached. This piece of tape is severed, e.g., cut off by a knife pivotally supported with the pivotal support of the first roller carrying arm means, and the resultant trailing free end of the tape is then wiped over the carton trailing back corner and against the carton back end wall to complete the tape application operation with respect to our stacked flap closure.
The projection of such applicator means, such as rollers supported by pivoted carrying arm means, into the path through the machine of the successive loaded cartons for application to their stacked flaps closures of lengths of the sealing tape is effected by suitable mechanisms of the tape applying assembly units which project the tape applicator means, e.g., the rollers, into the carton travel path. This may be accomplished by biasing means therein to which depressing force may be employed for depression or retraction of such rollers and their movable supports to the vicinity of the margins of the forward travel path of such carton and its closures of folded flaps by suitable means. Further, it may be desired that as either or both of the top and bottom stacked flaps closures of each carton are moving past the urged or biased tape applicator means during the carton forward travel the tape applicator means perform their required functions of pressing the adhering tape to such flaps closures while limiting the pressing urgency to, at most, a minor distance inward of the plane of such closure. This is to avoid a problem of such tape applicator means being urged inward to such a depth of deflection or distortion of such advancing flaps closures as to be likely to cause the applicator means, e.g., the roller, to catch into and break back out an edge portion of each such following carton end wall. This likelihood of carton back wall damage is more apt to occur when either the carton load is fluid or light and fluffy, or when there is an empty head space in the carton due to the load being insufficient snugly to fill the carton chamber.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce materially or eliminate reliably and economically in a relatively easy manner the development of such problems and attendant carton damage.
The present invention accomplishes this desired result by embodying in the tape applying assembly which is mounted either in the machine base or the elevating head beam thereof, or both, if desired, mechanism alternately to project and depress such tape applicator means located initially in the path of forward travel of each such carton for depressive manipulation thereof upon contact by the advancing carton. Releasable latch means are provided in such assembly which is manipulated by this mechanism to hold the tape applicator means depressed while the advancing carton and its closure are traveling past the tape applicator means. Also there are provided therein means to release this latch means for restoring the projection of the tape applicator means into the carton travel path for like operation with respect to the following advancing carton after passage of this preceding carton.
The releasable latch means, which is manipulated by the mechanism for alternately projecting and depressing the tape applicator means, desirably and conveniently is in the form of two separate such latch means with each individually manipulated by carton-depressible control means. Preferably such control means are in the form of a pair of individual pivoted levers. Each of a pair of catches with each engagable by a complementary latch hook in each of the pair of latch means is carried individually by one of these levers. The one of this pair of levers which is first engaged and depressed by the advancing carton carries the catch of the first latch means and the latch hook of the latter conveniently is manipulated by a projecting, carton-depressible trigger. The catch of the second latch means conveniently is carried by the carrier lever which supports the second roller and the complementary latch hook thereof that cooperates with this second catch conveniently is manipulated by the first lever which carries the first catch. For further convenience this first lever is also employed to support and carry with it in its up and down swing a knife that is swung up thereby as the advancing carton moves forward therebeyond, so as to cross the tape supply path as the tape extends back to adherence of a stack of flaps closure of the carton for cutting off this adhering piece of tape.
The latch hook of the first latch means is manipulated to a disengage position relative to its complementary catch carried on the knife carrier lever by thrust means connected to the trigger which preferably is an up and down swinging trigger member. The latch hook of the second latch means is manipulated to its disengage position relative to its complementary catch mounted on the second roller carrier lever by thrust means connected to the knife carrier lever.
Thus it is a further object of the invention conveniently to utilize for a plurality of additional latching purposes members of such a two applicator rollers tape applying assembly which otherwise may be largely conventional except for such roller-retraction latching service and the swinging cut-off knife.